scholarly journals Evolution of Long-Distance Migration in and Historical Biogeography of Catharus Thrushes: A Molecular Phylogenetic Approach

The Auk ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Outlaw ◽  
Gary Voelker ◽  
Borja Mila ◽  
Derek J. Girman

Abstract We addressed the evolution of long-distance migration in and the historical biogeography of Catharus thrushes within a phylogenetic framework. Catharus thrushes are a Nearctic–Neotropical genus consisting of five migrant and seven resident species. We reconstructed a molecular phylogeny using a combined analysis of cytochrome-b and ND2 genes. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicate the nonmonophyly of migratory Catharus species. The Neotropics are the most likely ancestral geographic area for the entire lineage, and migratory species are sister to resident taxa whose ranges are restricted to Central America, Mexico, or both. Resident behavior may be ancestral within the lineage, with migratory behavior evolving three times, although confidence in those reconstructions is equivocal in many cases. However, uncertainty in ancestral character states presents an interesting scenario including potential drop-offs of resident species from migratory ancestors.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Granados Mendoza ◽  
Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas ◽  
Paul Goetghebeur ◽  
Stefan Wanke ◽  
Marie-Stéphanie Samain

Background:Hydrangea section Cornidia consists of 26 currently accepted species and a yet undefined number of new species and erroneously synonymized taxa. This clade consists of (sub)tropical lianas occurring from northern Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina, and one species from Southeast Asia. Currently, no molecular phylogenetic hypothesis is available that includes more than a few species of this section. Hence, a resolved and well-sampled molecular phylogenetic hypothesis may help to enforce taxonomic decisions. In this study, we present a phylogenetic framework based on sequences from two low copy nuclear genes from a comprehensive taxon sampling of H. section Cornidia and a selection of outgroups. Our phylogenetic reconstructions prove the non-monophyly of the traditionally recognized subsections Monosegia and Polysegia and their corresponding series, Speciosae and Aphananthae, and Synstyleae and Chorystyleae, respectively. Three morphologically defined species were recovered with high support as monophyletic, namely, Hydrangea panamensis, Hydrangea serratifolia, and Hydrangea tarapotensis. However, statistical support for some shallow nodes did not allow to refute, with high support, the monophyly of several of the herein recognized species for which more than one individual could be analyzed. Based on the obtained phylogenetic framework, we reconstructed the evolution of selected reproductive characters. Hydrangea section Cornidia is the only genus section for which dioecism has been extensively documented. Our character reconstruction of sexual dimorphism shows that dioecism is the ancestral state in this section and that this was reversed to monoecy in Hydrangea seemannii and Hydrangea integrifolia. Character reconstruction for the enlarged marginal flowers recovered their presence as the ancestral character state in H. section Cornidia, although at least three internal lineages independently lost them; thus, losses were reconstructed to be more likely than gain. With respect to the flower color, more species exhibit white than red flowers, and white is reconstructed as the ancestral state. Cornidia also shows an unusual disjunct geographic distribution between Asia and Central Mesoamerica—South America, as it is not present in the USA and Canada. The origin of Cornidia is reconstructed to be the New World with higher probability, and the presence of one species in Asia is likely due to long-distance dispersal.


2021 ◽  
Vol 307 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Carnicero ◽  
Núria Garcia-Jacas ◽  
Llorenç Sáez ◽  
Theophanis Constantinidis ◽  
Mercè Galbany-Casals

AbstractThe eastern Mediterranean basin hosts a remarkably high plant diversity. Historical connections between currently isolated areas across the Aegean region and long-distance dispersal events have been invoked to explain current distribution patterns of species. According to most recent treatments, at least two Cymbalaria species occur in this area, Cymbalaria microcalyx and C. longipes. The former comprises several intraspecific taxa, treated at different ranks by different authors based on morphological data, evidencing the need of a taxonomic revision. Additionally, some populations of C. microcalyx show exclusive morphological characters that do not match any described taxon. Here, we aim to shed light on the systematics of eastern Mediterranean Cymbalaria and to propose a classification informed by various sources of evidence. We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS, 3’ETS, ndhF and rpl32-trnL sequences and estimated the ploidy level of some taxa performing relative genome size measures. Molecular data combined with morphology support the division of traditionally delimited C. microcalyx into C. acutiloba, C. microcalyx and C. minor, corresponding to well-delimited nrDNA lineages. Furthermore, we propose to combine C. microcalyx subsp. paradoxa at the species level. A group of specimens previously thought to belong to Cymbalaria microcalyx constitute a well-defined phylogenetic and morphological entity and are described here as a new species, Cymbalaria spetae. Cymbalaria longipes is non-monophyletic, but characterized by being glabrous and diploid, unlike other eastern species. The nrDNA data suggest at least two dispersals from the mainland to the Aegean Islands, potentially facilitated by marine regressions.


Author(s):  
J.-C. Huang ◽  
X.-Y. Li ◽  
Y.-P. Li ◽  
R.-S. Zhang ◽  
D.-B. Chen ◽  
...  

Samia ricini (Wm. Jones) and Samia cynthia (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) have been used as traditional sources of food as well as silk-producing insects. However, the phylogenetic relationship between the two silkworms remains to be addressed. In this study, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene sequences corresponding to DNA barcodes from 13 Samia species were analysed, and a DNA barcode-based phylogenetic framework for these Samia species was provided. Phylogenetic analysis showed that multiple individuals of a species could be clustered together. Our analysis revealed a close relationship among Samia yayukae Paukstadt, Peigler and Paukstadt, Samia abrerai Naumann and Peigler, Samia kohlli Naumann and Peigler, Samia naessigi Naumann and Peigler, Samia naumanni Paukstadt, Peigler and Paukstadt, and Samia kalimantanensis Paukstadt and Paukstadt. The mixed clustering relationship and low Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) genetic distance (0.006) between individuals of S. ricini and Samia canningi (Hutton) indicated that the cultivated silkworm S. ricini was derived from the non-cultivated silkworm S. canningi. The remote phylogenetic relationship and high K2P genetic distance (0.039) indicated that S. ricini and S. cynthia are distinct species, thus providing solid molecular evidence that they had entirely independent origins. The relationships between S. kalimantanensis and S. naumanni and between S. cynthia and Samia wangi Naumann and Peigler, as well as the potential cryptic species within S. abrerai were also discussed. This is the first study to assess the DNA barcodes of the genus Samia, which supplements the knowledge of species identification and provides the first molecular phylogenetic framework for Samia species.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludovic Le Renard ◽  
André L. Firmino ◽  
Olinto L. Pereira ◽  
Ruth A. Stockey ◽  
Mary. L. Berbee

AbstractPREMISE OF THE STUDYFossils show that fly-speck fungi have been reproducing with small, black thyriothecia on leaf surfaces for ∼250 million years. We analyze morphological characters of extant thyriothecial fungi to develop a phylogenetic framework for interpreting fossil taxa.METHODSWe placed 59 extant fly-speck fungi in a phylogeny of 320 Ascomycota using nuclear ribosomal large and small subunit sequences, including newly determined sequences from nine taxa. We reconstructed ancestral character states using BayesTraits and maximum likelihood after coding 11 morphological characters based on original observations and literature. We analyzed the relationships of three previously published Mesozoic fossils using parsimony and our morphological character matrix, constrained by the molecular phylogeny.KEY RESULTSThyriothecia evolved convergently in multiple lineages of superficial, leaf- inhabiting ascomycetes. The radiate and ostiolate scutellum organization is restricted to Dothideomycetes. Scutellum initiation by intercalary septation of a single hypha characterizes Asterinales and Asterotexiales, and initiation by coordinated growth of two or more adjacent hyphae characterizes Aulographaceae (order incertae sedis). Scutella in Microthyriales are initiated apically on a lateral hyphal branch. Patterns of hyphal branching in scutella contribute to distinguishing among orders. Parsimony resolves three fossil taxa as Dothideomycetes; one is further resolved as a member of a Microthyriales-Zeloasperisporiales clade within Dothideomycetes.CONCLUSIONSThis is the most comprehensive systematic study of thyriothecial fungi and their relatives to date. Parsimony analysis of the matrix of character states of modern taxa provides an objective basis for interpreting fossils, leading to insights into morphological evolution and geological ages of Dothideomycetes clades.


Author(s):  
Gaurang G. Gowande ◽  
S.R. Ganesh ◽  
Zeeshan A. Mirza

A new cryptic lineage of bush frogs of the genus Raorchestes from the understudied Eastern Ghats of India is described. Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions using mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequences suggest that the new species belongs to the Raorchestes charius clade, is sister to the allopatric R. charius of the Western Ghats and support the species-level distinctiveness of the lineage. The new species morphologically resembles R. charius from which it can be distinguished using the following characters: narrower head (HW/SVL 0.31 vs 0.34–0.36), wider inter upper eyelid (IUE/SVL 0.14–0.16 vs 0.11–0.13), greater maximum upper eyelid width (UEW/SVL 0.10–0.12 vs 0.06–0.09) and shorter thigh (TL/SVL 0.32–0.43 vs 0.44–0.51). Acoustic observations from the breeding males further corroborate the distinct specific status of the new species. The discovery of this new species of bush frog from an understudied landscape suggests that additional extensive surveys in the Eastern Ghats would yield several more amphibian lineages yet unknown to science.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1873) ◽  
pp. 20172329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Howard ◽  
Philip A. Stephens ◽  
Joseph A. Tobias ◽  
Catherine Sheard ◽  
Stuart H. M. Butchart ◽  
...  

Climate change is predicted to increase migration distances for many migratory species, but the physiological and temporal implications of longer migratory journeys have not been explored. Here, we combine information about species' flight range potential and migratory refuelling requirements to simulate the number of stopovers required and the duration of current migratory journeys for 77 bird species breeding in Europe. Using tracking data, we show that our estimates accord with recorded journey times and stopovers for most species. We then combine projections of altered migratory distances under climate change with models of avian flight to predict future migratory journeys. We find that 37% of migratory journeys undertaken by long-distance migrants will necessitate an additional stopover in future. These greater distances and the increased number of stops will substantially increase overall journey durations of many long-distance migratory species, a factor not currently considered in climate impact studies.


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